Improved gene expression atlas shows that many human long non-coding RNAs may actually be functional

Scientists have generated a comprehensive atlas of human long non-coding RNAs with substantially improved gene models, allowing them to better assess the diversity and functionality of these RNAs. Their results suggest that 19,175 of these RNAs may be functional, hinting that there could be as many — or even more — functional non-coding RNAs than the approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome.